What’s New After Me Too?
I’m wondering, what’s changed?
After all the heart-wrenching, outrage-inducing #MeToo stories over the last year or more, what has changed?
Sure, I could point to changes I know of, but what’s more useful is to hear about the changes you noticed. The changes you implemented. How you changed. How your workplace is — or isn’t — different today. How’d that make you feel?
Me Too stories can shock, anger, or dispirit us. But the reason any survivor comes forward, I believe, is to change how our workplaces and communities treat each other. If you read the Huffington Post story I was in, or others over the last year which moved you, I’d love to hear how learning from our stories changed your own narrative.
So here’s my challenge: On May 4th, 2019, share your stories of how your organization, network, team, or you changed.
Did policies and practices get an overhaul? Did you notice small changes in how you interact with others? Did bosses and coworkers have hard conversations about harassment? Do you have lessons others can learn from? A template others can follow? Did these changes have a positive or negative effect? Did nothing change and now you’re wondering if it ever will?
Post your stories on or by May 4th with the hashtag #MeTooChanged as in, “#MeTooChanged how safe I feel at work. Harassment complaints are now taken seriously by HR.” or “#MeTooChanged how I support friends suffering sexual harassment.” Link to your blog posts below, in the comments. Or, just leave a comment with your experience here!
Thank you for being a part of this journey towards improving our workplaces and communities. In particular, I want to thank all those in civic tech, philanthropy, campaigns, and nonprofits who’ve engaged with me over the last year on how to make our workplaces safer and more supportive.
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Sarah Schacht is an open government and public health innovation consultant by profession. She spoke on the record in a Huffington Post “me too” story with the assistance of the TIMES Up Legal Defense Fund. She engages organizations and speaks at conferences about how workplaces can use workforce data to detect potential “Me Too” patterns and retain ROI by creating a safer workplace.
